名著·鲁宾逊飘流记 - 第52节


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  这是我来到荒岛上度过的最愉快的一年。星期五的英语已说得相当不错了,也差不多完全能明白我要他拿的每一样东西的名称和我差他去的每一个地方,而且,还喜欢一天到晚跟我谈话。以前,我很少有机会说话;现在,我的舌头终于又可以用来说话了。我与他谈话真是快乐无比。不仅如此,我对他的人品也特别满意。相处久了,我越来越感到他是多么地天真诚实,我真的打从心底里喜欢上了他。同时,我也相信,他爱我胜过爱任何人。

   I had a Mind once to try if he had any hankering Inclination to his own Country again, and having learn'd him English so well that he could answer me almost any Questions, I ask'd him whether the Nation that he belong'd to never conquer'd in Battle, at which he smil'd; and said; yes, yes, we always fight the better; that is, he meant always get the better in Fight; and so we began the following Discourse: You always fight the better said I, How came you to be taken Prisoner then, Friday?

  有一次,我有心想试试他,看他是否还怀念自己的故乡。这时,我觉得他英语已讲得相当不错了,几乎能回答我提出的任何问题。我问他,他的部族是否在战争中从不打败仗。听了我的问题,他笑了。他回答说: "是的,是的,我们一直打得比人家好。"他的意思是说,在战斗中,他们总是占优势。由此,我们开始了下面的对话:"你们一直打得比人家好,"我说,"那你怎么会被抓住当了俘虏呢,星期五?"

   Friday, My Nation beat much, for all that.

  星期五:我被抓了,但我的部族打赢了。

   Master, How beat; if your Nation beat them, how come you to be taken?

  主人:怎么打赢的呢?如果你的部族打赢了,你怎么会被他们抓住呢?

   Friday, They more many than my Nation in the Place where me was; they take one, two, three, and me; my Nation over beat them in the yonder Place, where me no was; there my Nation take one, two, great Thousand.

  星期五:在我打仗的地方,他们的人比我们多。他们抓住了一个、两个、三个,还有我。在另一个地方,我的部族打败了他们。那儿,我们抓了他们一两千人。

  主人:可是,你们的人为什么不把你们救回去呢?

   Friday, They run one, two, three, and me, and make go in the Canoe; my Nation have no Canoe that time.

  星期五:他们把一个、两个、三个,还有我,一起放到独木舟上逃跑了。我们的部族那时正好没有独木舟。

   Master, Well, Friday, and What does your Nation do with the Men they take, do they carry them away, and eat them, as these did?

  主人:那么,星期五,你们的部族怎么处置抓到的人呢?他们是不是也把俘虏带到一个地方,像你的那些敌人那样,把他们杀了吃掉?

   Friday, Yes, my Nation eat Mans too, eat all up.

  星期五:是的,我们的部族也吃人肉,把他们统统吃光。

   Master, Where do they carry them?

  主人:他们把人带到哪儿去了?

  星期五:带到别的地方去了,他们想去的地方。

   Master, Do they come hither?

  主人:他们到这个岛上来过吗?

   Friday, Yes, yes, they come hither; come other else Place.

  星期五:是的,是的,他们来过。也到别的地方去。

   Master, Have you been here with them?

  主人:你跟他们来过这儿吗?

   Friday, Yes, I been here; [points to the N.W. Side of the Island, which it seems was their Side.]

  星期五:是的,我来过这儿(他用手指了指岛的西北方。看来,那是他们常去的地方。)。

  通过这次谈话,我了解到,我的仆人星期五,以前也经常和那些生番一起,在岛的另一头上岸,干那吃人的勾当,就像他这一次被带到岛上来,差一点也给别的生番吃掉。过了几天后,我鼓起勇气,把他带到岛的那一头,也就是我前面提到过的那地方。他马上认出了那地方。他告诉我,他到过这地方一次,吃了二十个男人、两个女人和一个小孩。他还不会用英语数到二十,所以用了许多石块在地上排成了长长的一行,用手指了指那行石块告诉我这个数字。

   I have told this Passage, because it introduces what follows; that after I had had this Discourse with him, I ask'd him how far it was from our Island to the Shore, and whether the Canoes were not often lost; he told me, there was no Danger, no Canoes ever lost; but that after a little way out to the Sea, there was a Current, and Wind, always one way in the Morning, the other in the Afternoon.

  我把这一段谈话叙述出来,是因为它与下面的事情有关。那就是,在我与他谈过这次话之后,我就问他,小岛离大陆究竟有多远,独木舟是否经常出事?他告诉我没有任何危险,独木舟也从未出过事。但在离小岛不远处,有一股急流和风,上午是一个方向,下午又是一个方向。

   This I understood to be no more than the Sets of the Tide, as going out, or coming in; but I afterwards understood, it was occasion'd by the great Draft and Reflux of the mighty River Oroonooko; in the Mouth, or the Gulph of which River, as I found afterwards, our Island lay; and this Land which I perceiv'd to the W. and N. W. was the great Island Trinidad, on the North Point of the Mouth of the River: I ask'd Friday a thousand Questions about the Country, the Inhabitants, the Sea, the Coast, and what Nation were near; he told me all he knew with the greatest Openness imaginable; I ask'd him the Names of the several Nations of his Sort of People; but could get no other Name than Caribs; from whence I easily understood, that these were the Caribbees, which our Maps place on the Part of America, which reaches from the Mouth of the River Oroonooko to Guiana, and onwards to St. Martha: He told me that up a great way beyond the Moon, that was, beyond the Setting of the Moon, which must be W. from their Country, there dwelt white bearded Men, like me; and pointed to my great Whiskers, which I mention'd before; and that they had kill'd much Mans, that was his Word; by all which I under stood he meant the Spaniards, whose Cruelties in America had been spread over the whole Countries, and was remember'd by all the Nations from Father to Son.

  起初我还以为这不过是潮水的关系,有时往外流,有时往里流。后来我才弄明白,那是由于那条叫作奥里诺科河①的大河倾泻入海,形成回流之故。而我们的岛,刚好是在该河的一处入海口上。我在西面和西北面看到的陆地,正是一个大岛,叫特里尼达岛,正好在河口的北面。我向星期五提出了无数的问题,问到这一带的地形、居民、海洋、海岸,以及附近居住着什么民族。他毫无保留地把他所知道的一切都告诉了我,态度十分坦率。我又问他,他们这个民族分成多少部落,叫什么名字。可问来问去只问出一个名字,就是加勒比人。于是我马上明白,他所说的是加勒比群岛,在我们的地图上,是属于美洲地区;这些群岛从奥里诺科河河口,一直延伸到圭亚那,再延伸到圣马大。他指着我的胡子对我说,在月落的地方,离这儿很远很远,也就是说,在他们国土的西面。住着许多像我这样有胡子的白人。又说,他们在那边杀了很多很多的人。从他的话里,我明白他指的是西班牙人。他们在美洲的杀人暴行在各民族中臭名远扬,并且在这些民族中世代相传。

   I enquir'd if he could tell me how I might come from this Island, and get among those white Men; he told me, yes, yes, I might go in two Canoe; I could not understand what he meant, or make him describe to me what he meant by two Canoe, till at last with great Difficulty, I found he meant it must be in a large great Boat, as big as two Canoes.

  我问他能不能告诉我怎样才能从这个岛上到那些白人那边去。他对我说:"是的,是的,可以坐两只独木船去。"我不明白"坐两只独木舟去"是什么意思,也无法使他说明"两只独木船"的意思。到最后,费了好大的劲,我才弄清楚他的意思。原来是要用一只很大很大的船,要像两只独木船那样大。

   This Part of Friday's Discourse began to relish with me very well, and from this Time I entertain'd some Hopes, that one Time or other, I might find an Opportunity to make my Escape from this Place; and that this poor Savage might be a Means to help me to do It.

  星期五的谈话使我很感兴趣。从那时期,我就抱着一种希望,但愿有一天能有机会从这个荒岛上逃出去,并指望这个可怜的野人能帮助我达到目的。

  现在,星期五与我在一起生活了相当长一段时间了,他渐渐会和我谈话了,也渐渐听得懂我的话了。在这段时间里,我经常向他灌输一些宗教知识。特别有一次,我问他:他是谁创造出来的?这可怜的家伙一点也不明白我的意思,以为是我在问他谁是他的父亲。我就换一个方法问他:大海,我们行走的大地、高山、树林,都是谁创造出来的?他告诉我,是一位叫贝纳木基的老人创造出来的,这位老人住在很远很远的地方。但无法告诉我这位伟大的老人究竟是怎么样的一个人,只是说他年纪很大很大,比大海和陆地、月亮和星星年纪都大。我又问他: "既然这位老人家创造了万物,万物为什么不崇拜他呢?"他脸上马上显出既庄重又天真的神气说:"万物都对他说'哦'。"于是我又问他:在他们国家里,人死之后都到什么地方去了?他说:"是的,都到贝纳木基老人那里去了。"接着我又问他:他们吃掉的人是不是也到那里去了?他说:"是的。"

   From these Things, I began to instruct him in the Know ledge of the true God: I told him that the great Maker of all Things liv'd up there, pointing up towards Heaven: That he governs the World by the same Power and Providence by which he had made it: That he was omnipotent, could do every Thing for us, give every Thing to us, take every Thing from us; and thus by Degrees I open'd his Eyes. He listned with great Attention, and receiv'd with Pleasure the Notion of Jesus Christ being sent to redeem us, and of the Manner of making our Prayers to God, and his being able to hear us, even into Heaven; he told me one Day, that if our God could hear us up beyond the Sun, he must needs be a greater God than their Benamuckee, who liv'd but a little way off, and yet could not hear, till they went up to the great Mountains where he dwelt, to speak to him; I ask'd him if ever he went thither, to speak to him; he said no, they never went that were young Men; none went thither but the old Men, who he call'd their Oowocakee, that is, as I made him explain it to me, their Religious, or Clergy, and that they went to say O, (so he called saying Prayers) and then came back, and told them what Benamuckee said: By this I observ'd, That there is Priestcraft, even amongst the most blinded ignorant Pagans in the World; and the Policy of making a secret Religion, in order to preserve the Veneration of the People to the Clergy, is not only to be found in the Roman, but perhaps among all Religions in the World, even among the most brutish and barbarous Savages.

  从这些事情入手,我逐渐教导他,使他认识真正的神是上帝。我指着天空对他说,万物的伟大创造者就住在天上,并告诉他,上帝用神力和神意创造了世界,治理着世界。我还告诉他,上帝是万能的,他能为我们做任何事情,他能把一切都赐予我们,也能把一切从我们手里夺走。就这样,我逐渐使他睁开了眼睛。他专心致志地听我讲,并且很乐意接受我向他灌输的观念:基督是被派来替我们赎罪的。他也乐意学着向上帝祈祷,并知道,上帝在天上能听到他的祈祷。有一天,他对我说,上帝能从比太阳更远的地方听到我们的话,他必然是比贝纳木基更伟大的神。因为贝纳木基住的地方不算太远,可他却听不到他们的话,除非他们到他住的那座山里去向他谈话。我问他:他可曾去过那儿与他谈过话?他说:没有,青年人从来不去,只有那些被称为奥乌卡儿的老人才去。经过他解释,我才知道,所谓奥乌卡儿,就是他们部族的祭司或僧侣。据他说,他们到那儿去说"哦",(他说,这是他们的祈祷。)然后就回来,把贝纳木基的话告诉他们。从星期五的话里,我可以推断,即使是世界上最盲目无知的邪教徒中,也存在着祭司制度;同时,我也发现,把宗教神秘化,从而使人们能敬仰神职人员,这种做法不仅存在于罗马天主教,也存在于世界上一切宗教,甚至也存在于最残忍、最野蛮的野人中间。

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名著·鲁宾逊飘流记 - 第52节